UPDATED 3:11PM: The NFL’s players union is siding with the musicians in the dust-up over pay-to-play for the Super Bowl halftime show. “The NFL Players Association will always support workers and fair wages,” a spokesman for the NFL Players Association tells Deadline.

PREVIOUSLY 2:11PM: Union pushback is mounting against the NFL’s reported plan to get halftime acts to pay to perform at future Super Bowls. The AFL-CIO’s Department of Professional Employees today just joined the American Federation of Musicians in condemning such a plan.

“No one should ever pay to work. No organization should ever get a kickback from a worker they employ,” the labor organization said of the plan, first detailed in the Wall Street Journal. “The Department of Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, its affiliates in the entertainment industry, and the other unions, 22 in all, will stand with the AFM in condemning and will fight back against any attempts to make workers pay to perform,” the group said of the plan to convince music acts to cough up cash to play the halftime show, most likely in the form of a cut of post-show ticket sales, downloads, etc.

The NFL has not been paying its Super Bowl halftime performers — most recently Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers at this year’s game. That February 2 halftime show actually clocked more viewers than did the football game. Some of music’s biggest acts have played the halftime shows including Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyoncé and Prince.

“It’s not like the NFL and its Super Bowl organizers don’t have any money and can’t afford to pay for halftime show performances, it’s about the insatiable thirst for profits at the expense of great musical entertainment and those who create it,” AFM President Ray Hair said last week. “You can find kickback schemes like this coming from unscrupulous bar and nightclub owners, but for the NFL to descend to such depths would be unconscionable.”

20 Comments

It’s not help, per se- they’re members and the union acts on their behalf, as is expected.

west coast story • on Sep 2, 2014 2:25 pm

Time to revoke the NFL’s obscene non profit status.

rfk • on Sep 2, 2014 2:58 pm

Keep it in perspective, Anon. The NFL has wayyyyyyy more money than any one of those musical acts.

TV Watcher • on Sep 2, 2014 3:17 pm

Also of note, they do not pay the several people who assemble those stages during the commercial break before the half-time performance. They are volunteers.

Bill • on Sep 2, 2014 9:26 pm

@TV Watcher

Stop spreading lies. I don’t know where you get your info. EVERYONE involved in building the stages are professional, union members. As are the sound mixer, the sound crew, the director, producers, lighting director, set designers, props, camera operators, camera assistants (utilities), video control, booth personnel, tape ops, etc.. I know, I work on it early every year and would not do so if a bunch of ‘volunteers’ were responsible for the safety of the workers. Regardless of what state the game’s played in, the entire crew is union.

Ok, the ‘local’ ENG camera crews may not be — but, they only shoot for the local channels, NOT THE NATIONAL BROADCAST. They ARE NOT involved in the half time show. Those guys only shoot or their local news stations.

The moochers want free stadiums payed for by the taxpayers and now they want to mooch off of musicians. If the NFL is too poor to pay top musicians then it should bring in high school or college marching bands to do the halftime show. The time for billionaires to approach the rest of us with their palms open, looking for a handout, is over.

steveomedic • on Sep 2, 2014 3:50 pm

The idea of even considering to have half time entertainment pay to play frames the depths of NFL greed. They dragged compensation for player head injuries to keep the payouts for as long as they could, remember? Hey……how many pennies did they find in front of 7-11 counters? Do they drink their toilet water to save money? Maybe the NFL can find a way to make money from the sun light that shines on their day games!

Anonymous • on Sep 2, 2014 4:40 pm

The fact is that there are many people who tune in to the Superbowl just for the half time show. The NFL is beyond greedy. And they are a non-profit why?

Rick Katze • on Sep 2, 2014 4:58 pm

While I agree that people should not pay to work, I find it strange that the very union which espouses the thought demands that all football players pay it for the privilege of playing for their team

Macguffin54 • on Sep 2, 2014 7:31 pm

The only reason co could see them charging is that it might prevent such a log jamb of artists fighting for a spot and what must be a very difficult decision to make among top competing artists.

That being said, where have these unions been while college athletes are being asked to sign their likenesses away and forfeit ticket profits from games to their schools (while paying tuition). And I don’t even watch college sports. It’s just so blatantly unfair I can’t believe it goes on.

bababooey • on Sep 2, 2014 7:40 pm

I just hope some crazy billionaire wins the bid and does a horrible drunken Tom Jones karaoke rendition during the Superbowl. Good to see the NFL isn’t just a bunch of joyless money grubbing old farts!

“No one should ever pay to work. No organization should ever get a kickback from a worker they employ”

Ha Ha.

In some states you are forced to join a union in order to get certain jobs.

Anonymous • on Sep 3, 2014 10:02 am

You aren’t paying to work , you are paying for union representation which actually drives higher wages , gives you a negotiating voice at the table and makes it almost impossible for your company to fire you. Go to that same company without union representation and is guarantee you you’d be paid much less thang what you are making now or else no one would tolerate having to pay union dues.

Anonymous • on Sep 3, 2014 1:31 pm

Unions are great. I do not mind paying a small Union due just to have my voice heard, to make sure I have acceptable working conditions, great pay, pension. And anything else I would need to make a good living.

Which explains why nationwide, union membership drastically drops when people are, you know, actually given a choice in the damn matter. Sooner or later, unions will be relegated to the dustbin of history, along with the guilds that preceded them.